The invention discloses a chromogenic medium used for detecting esherichia coli O157:H7. The medium comprises agar, peptone, beef extract powder, sodium chloride, sorbitol, inositol, neutral red, beta-galactosidase chromogenic substrate, beta-glucuronidase chromogenic substrate, isopropyl-beta-D- thiogalactopyranoside, natrium taurocholicum, potassium tellurite and cefixime. The chromogenic medium used for detecting esherichia coli O157:H7 of the present invention has the advantages of high sensitivity, good specificity, direct bacterial strain discrimination according to colony color, short detection period and strong operationality, is suitable for treating high-reflux samples, is capable of comprehensively, systematically and accurately detecting and preliminarily identifying the esherichia coli O157:H7 in food production and environment, and provides a novel approach for rapidly detecting the microbes.